Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, says a new blueprint for club academies will be "game changing" in identifying and coaching elite English talent. He also believes that the plans will have a positive effect on grassroots football, marking a new acceptance of responsibility by Scudamore and club executives.

The main change, due to be ratified in June, is that academies will be graded independently, a measure taken from Bundesliga clubs. A Premier League spokesperson said: "The mantra is: 'More and better home-grown players'.''

Scudamore said: "Basically it's the Charter for Quality [implemented in 1997] made good from 2011 to 2025 and there's a huge, huge commitment out there.

"We do believe there's more English talent than is currently being identified and that has a link into facilities and grassroots football and a link into everywhere else.

"We think we are able to improve significantly the levels of coaching and the coaching hours we give our young players. We think that it is entirely possible for it to be done and there is absolute certainty it will have a positive impact on English talent."